WEEK 9: April 29,
2013
¡Hola Familia Y
Amigos!
¿Como están ustedes?
Life here changes daily! The people we teach, the experiences that
happen, and the new inner battles that occur. I feel so much love and strength
as I read your letters! It is good to hear from those who love and know me the
most!
This gospel is amazing in how much it blesses and impacts
families. We just went to a baptism from another companionship. One of the
girls being baptized was 11. Wow. The smile on her face, she knows with all her
heart that is where she wants to be, that she loves the Lord. There were a
total of 5 baptized! And each one brought their families and their friends and
you could see the impact it had on those closest to them. Now their family
history work can take place, generations to come can benefit from it, it is an
incredible impact that just one beautiful soul can have on all of their
generations (before, current, and to come). That is our purpose as
missionaries! To bring souls unto Christ. That our trials may be swallowed up
in exceeding great joy!
The Lord works in such mysterious, yet incredible ways. I
have seen His hand so much as new trials and challenges have come my way. I am
once again (YAY!) a part of a tri-companionship. My other companion’s name is
Hermana Calderòn, SHE IS A FIRE CRACKER! Haha! What a crazy girl. She is from Lima , Peru
I am accelerating in my Spanish!! Hermana Calderòn does not
speak ANY English! What an answer to prayers. Hermana Phillips was speaking
very little to me in Spanish and it would be hard sometimes to switch my brain
to the new language. I wanted more language exposure. Well Kaitlyn, be careful
what you wish for! LOL! Seriously HaHa!
Because it has been a whole new emotional rollercoaster
and…Wow! My head hurts so much everyday from trying to translate everything in
my mind. I have a need to express myself.
And I am trying, but I feel I have like a zero vocabulary in this area and
so in turn I would feel like a failure. My first companion didn’t know how to
help me with this. Quite frankly, I didn’t know how to help myself...
Another one of my prayers was answered too. I needed to
speak to someone about this, preferably President Armstrong. We have been
advised to not seek direct counsel as girls from our district leaders, this is
because they are of the opposite sex and it could possibly lead to endearing
feelings. Yet I didn’t know how to get to Montevideo
to see the Mission President and for what I thought was a rather silly thing.
Low and behold-- President Armstrong came to our ward yesterday and I had the
wonderful opportunity to discuss freely with him a few problems that were
occurring. He stated that quite frankly I was leaps and bounds ahead of those I
came with in my thinking and that I really should consider putting that voice
inside my head saying "you should be doing much better" on the shelf
or out the window for awhile. He told me that this kind of thinking doesn’t
have a place. It helped to hear it coming from him. I feel so much more relieved.
I think I was running faster than I had strength. The Lord will help me learn
in His own time and in His own way. I just need to continue to work hard and do
my part to be the best I can each day.
This work is incredible! I have seriously watched it change
lives this week. I had the opportunity to do an intercambio with Hermana Vargas
(hopefully pictures next week, sorry forgot them!) and we had an incredible
experience. This man, Marcello, that Hermana Vargas had met previously on the
street had made an appointment, and that day we were together was the day we
visited him. He openly stated and desired to know why we were missionaries. He
told us that he did not believe in God. He did not believe that God cared about
him. He is jobless, has a family to care for, and near zero food in the house.
And there we sat, bellies full, hardly any cares in the world, and we had hope
through the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our eyes.
I know that it was through the Holy Ghost I was able to 1)
understand his immediate questions and 2) be able to respond boldly that we are
messengers of Jesus Christ. We are here to invite souls to come unto Christ. To
share how this gospel has impacted our lives. To share our love of God and
God’s love with all man kind.
He tended to focus on material things, yet Marcello and
Dyanna (his wife, religious Catholic) changed so much as we talked with them
about the Book of Mormon and the Plan of Salvation. We saw this man change his
hard expression of distain into an expression of humility, and he felt the
spirit testify to his whole soul of the divinity of God, that God is there, He
desires to help him. I saw as this man knelt down for the first time in his
life and said a prayer. Words cannot describe my joy.
I love this work! I wish I had more time to share with you
the stories I have! There are so many more. We are working hard!! We are
walking in the dirt roads of La Paz .
We are letting ourselves become servants of God.
All my love!
Hermana Hansen
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